New Art Exchange, 39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham NG7 6BE

John Akomfrah: Mimesis: African Soldier

The opening titles to John Akomfrah’s ‘Mimesis: African Soldier’ (2018) state that “six million colonial subjects fought and served in the Great War” and that three-hundred and fifty-thousand died in Europe. Akomfrah’s three-screen installation interweaves archival footage with new material that commemorates those conscripted into the First World War by colonial powers, to fight for a cause not their own. Review by Joshua Lockwood-Moran

Further reading +

mother's tankstation London, 58 - 64 Three Colts Ln, Bethnal Green, London E2 6GP

Yuri Pattison: to-do, doing, d̶o̶n̶e̶

Layers of time, economic systems and environments tightly interconnect in Yuri Pattison’s new exhibition. ‘to-do, doing, d̶o̶n̶e̶’ explores the narratives embedded in time-based technologies and the very fabric of reality. A combination of existing and newly-made works shows the connection between seemingly unrelated worlds, by turning to the ineffable world of toxins, waves and frequencies. Review by Giulia Civardi

Further reading +

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Nam June Paik

Early photographs of Paik at his studio in New York City show him smiling, like a kid in a sweet shop, in a room filled with clutter. The antique technology that blankets the floor arguably appears as rubbish to most. However, to Paik, broken-down technological devices were inspiration. Review by Sheena Carrington

Further reading +

Spike Island, 133 Cumberland Road Bristol BS1 6UX

Imran Perretta: the destructors

In his new film ‘the destructors’, Imran Perretta uses narrative and visual storytelling to articulate his personal experiences with physical and structural violence. The result is a sensitive and poignant indictment of the British governmental policies, Austerity and the War on Terror, which have served to exacerbate the marginalisation and oppression of Muslim communities living in the UK. Review by Julia Schouten

Further reading +

The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk, Wakefield WF1 5AW

Christina Quarles: In Likeness

Entering Christina Quarles’ first European exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield, the viewer is greeted with a number of large-scale paintings and an architectural intervention, which includes a window revealing further works. Quarles’ arresting paintings depict female bodies that stretch, contort and intertwine. They are ambiguous and only barely legible as bodies, found somewhere in the liminal space between depiction and abstraction. Review by Joshua Lockwood-Moran

Further reading +

Lane Meyer Projects, 2528 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205, USA

Green Gra$$

The exhibition title alludes to the ways in which capitalism has become intertwined with a looming sense of environmental disaster in the age of the Anthropocene. Through collage, installation and sculpture, ‘Green Gra$$’ examines our cultural longing for a future that is already lost. Review by Rosanna van Mierlo

Further reading +

Central Pavilion, Arsenale, Venice, Italy

Venice Biennale 2019: Jon Rafman: Dream Journal

The feature film ‘Dream Journal’ presented at the Venice Biennale is the result of three years of exploration into 3D simulated environments (2016-2019). Throughout an extremely dense 94 minutes, Rafman radically experiments with imaginary worlds populated by a plethora of obscene biotech mutants. CGI reveals the dark vitality of techno-materialism that melds post-human forms with chimerical beasts, monstrous insects and Japanese sexual perversions. Review by Piotr Bockowski

Further reading +

Matt's Gallery, 92 Webster Road, London SE16 4DF

Susan Hiller: Ghost / TV

At the time of Susan Hiller’s death earlier this year, she was working on a new show for Matt’s Gallery, the tiny Bermondsey gallery with which she had a decades-long working relationship. The resulting show has come about in collaboration with Hiller’s son, Gabriel Coxhead. Review by Lucy Holt

Further reading +

Belvedere 21, Arsenalstraße 1, 1030 Wien, Austria

Monica Bonvicini: I CANNOT HIDE MY ANGER

Placed in the pavilion designed by Karl Schwanzer, Monica Bonvicini takes over the impressive open-plan ground floor of the Belvedere 21. Bonvicini’s pieces redirect the viewer’s experience towards a performative space that welcomes the outside world, touching on questions of politics and society. Using institutional ways of conditioning her subject, the artist highlights the impact of societal structures. Through her work, Bonvicini reflects on the relationships between this space and the viewer. Review by Alexandra Gamrot

Further reading +

EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Ahertajantie 5, 02100 Espoo, Finland

Tatsuo Miyajima: Sky of Time

For most of us, numbers allow us to quantify distances, volumes, time and more. The fact that the precise (or imprecise) use of these abstract entities also carries tangible consequences is also commonly known. Few, though, recognise their creative potential. There are only a handful of visual artists who use numbers in their work and Tatsuo Miyajima is one of those rare individuals. Review by John Gayer

Further reading +

signs and symbols, 102 Forsyth Street, New York, NY 10002

Sharon Louden & Hrag Vartanian: Origins

Sharon Louden & Hrag Vartanian’s latest collaborative project, ‘Origins’, draws on years of conversations, exchanges and shared experiences. First iterated at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Residency Program in 2018, the project remains a living thing. It changes in step with their longstanding friendship. Review by Rosanna van Mierlo

Further reading +

Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Taking its point of departure and title from Hieronymus Bosch’s ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ (1490-1510), the current exhibition at Gropius Bau brings together the wide-ranging work of twenty international artists. The state of the garden serves as a microcosmic starting point, from which expansive ideas and wider dialogues emerge about colonialism, systems of sharing, borders and structures of thought. With contributing artists including Yayoi Kusama, Pipilotti Rist, Hicham Berrada and more, the exhibition moves from the paradisiacal to the provocative, the reflective to the revolutionary, and shifts between global and individual lenses. Review by Eva Szwarc

Further reading +

Tintype, 107 Essex Rd, Canonbury, London N1 2SL

Michelle Williams Gamaker: Distant Relative

In January 2018, Michelle Williams Gamaker travelled across the pond to Los Angeles, California and reached a new level of obsessive fandom. Dressed in a brown taffeta cocktail dress, Jackie O-style sunglasses and gold sparkly stilettos, she made the trek through the 300-acre Forest Lawn Memorial Park - ‘cemetery to the stars’ - to locate the grave of Indian-born, Hollywood studio era film star Sabu. Despite her efforts to connect with the star, for whom Williams Gamaker has a deep affinity, she was eventually discovered by security and ordered to leave, although not without first putting up a good fight. ‘... it’s just that I’m a distant relative,’ she protested. Review by Alex White

Further reading +